Forum:Ches
The Cherry of Ashi-Gompa: Ches 1st-4th On the 1st of Ches, Gorgoroth, Halstein, Alejandra, Ruthea, and Jura met in the Boar & Thistle. They bought a map of Wyrmstad from an antiques dealer for 2,000 gold apiece, though Jura suspected the map had been stolen. They then set out for the Sawtooth Vale. They opted to teleport to the Tomb of the Storm King and then travel west to the northermost edge of the Sawtooth Vale, aiming first for the cherry tree that the Storm King had told Gorgoroth to seek out. Early in the trip, Ruthea spotted a glint of metal on the border of the Ashen Plains. A short detour revealed a crashed ornithopter. The ornithopter control rod was found to fit into the device and to have some power, but as the ornithopter was not in shape to fly, it was left in place for the time being. The body of the ornithopter's pilot, a mummified gnome, was taken. The pilot was wearing a magic ring that preserved his body such that it would be possible to raise him despite the span of time since his death. The party camped in the Barbarian Highlands. Early in the night, a scouting party approached the fire. Halstein spoke to them in the Pict dialect; they warned the party that this area was the domain of evil female spirits, which Halstein translated to "hags." The party opted not to break camp and move to another location. This proved unwise, as Halstein, Alejandra, and Ruthea were plagued by nightmares that drained their energy. Jura appeared immune to this effect, while Gorgoroth was protected by the Seal of the Metatron. On the 2nd, the party pressed further westward. They eventually reached the swampy eastern edge of the Trollveggen. Halfway through the swamp the party was ambushed by a Catoblepas. The creature's first spray of noxious breath poisoned Gorgoroth. Jura neutralized the creature's poison, preventing it from breathing again, and the rest of the party quickly dispatched the creature. With only mundane healing assistance, Gorgoroth nearly succumbed to the powerful poison. However, Halstein activated one of the magical fates he received from Rathbone's Deck of Many Things, and this second chance at shaking off the poison saved Gorgoroth's life. Halstein took the Catoblepas' head as a trophy and carved several steaks out of the carcass. While the Pathfinders were cooking a steak over the fire that night, they were attacked by a party of stone giants hurling stones and demanding meat. The Pathfinders at first declined, but when a fire spell revealed eight or nine giants, they decided to retreat, tossing a few steaks into the bush as they went to occupy the giants. On the 4th, the Pathfinders reached the other side of the Trollveggen and saw a small village perched upon a hill at the base of the mountains. They spotted the cherry tree that they were looking for just beyond the village, but decided first to enter the village and seek information. The gates were open, and the people walking around the gate seemed unconcerned by the Pathfinders. When questioned, a passing monk identified the village as Ashi-Gompa, the Monastery of the Earthen Path, and directed them to Magister Peylon. Peylon invited them in to tea and immediately began talking up the many fine attractions of his village. He also mentioned the Master, a drunken boxer of great skill recently come to the village, and the tree-man, who had taken root and become an ever-flowering, ever-fruiting cherry tree outside the walls. Jura realized that this tree-man was likely the druidic warforged Rubikon. Ruthea suggested that Sister Tamoko might be here, and Peylon told the Pathfinders that she was indeed living in the convent. Halstein went off in search of a taxidermist for his head, and on the way encountered the barbarian smith Vanagandr. Halstein and Vanagandr shared a few words concerning swords, and Vanagandr asked Halstein to join him for a bowl of wine. The other four Pathfinders, realizing they were still covered in the smell of the swamp and the Catoblepas, went for a bath before rejoining Halstein for a look at the cherry tree. When Jura approached the cherry tree, a trio of assassins materialized. The apparent leader thanked Jura for completing the task of locating Rubikon and announced that he and his companions would be destroying the tree. Jura stood her ground, insisting that she did not trust the assassin's account, and Alejandra commented that Rubikon had never had a chance to give his side. Both sides readied weapons. Ruthea took advantage of the fact that attention was off of her to sabotage one of the assassin's firearms. Nearly simultaneously, both sides attacked. The lead assassin fired a Disintegrating ray from a wand which Halstein then immediately sundered. When the lead assassin was dealt what should have been a killing blow, he instead turned to snow and fell apart, revealing himself as a simulacrum. At this point Jura was struck by magic missiles from an invisible source. As the remaining Pathfinders dealt with the visible attackers, Jura traced the invisible assassin by scent and used an area Dispel Magic to nullify his invisibility. Halstein then charged the leader, knocking him to the ground. Faced with this assault the leader immediately surrendered, offering a writ of non-aggression guaranteeing that the assassins would not pursue either the tree Rubikon or the Pathfinders who defended him. Pressed for further assurances, he explained that the New Luxberg assassins had already drawn a loss on this account and further action against Rubikon would be throwing good money after bad. The Pathfinders accepted his surrender. Gorgoroth then looked down and saw a monkey handing him the pepperboxes which the assassins had dropped. He realized that this monkey was the companion the Storm King had promised him, a monkey who had been unafraid of the strange tree and had eaten its fruit, gaining intelligence. The Pathfinders gathered around the tree and tasted its fruit, which they discovered has a minor healing power. Zuni, given a fruit, appeared to gain an extra spark of intelligence. The Pathfinders returned to Ashi-Gompa. As a group they decided to inform Rinzler in Willowdale that Sister Tamoko had been located, and Ru sent the message. The Abbot's Door and Chickcharney's Key: Ches 5th On the morning of the 5th of Ches, Rinzler and Kat met in the Boar & Thistle to make travel plans. Rinzler had just earlier received a message from Ru saying that Sister Tamoko had been located, living somewhere in the monastic village of Ashi-Gompa, where her and several other Pathfinders were still visiting. At the promise of finally being able to see the interior of the coveted Abbot’s Room, Kat was all too excited to be off to the monastery as soon as possible. As they were discussing the best way to ask the sister for her assistance, Enrique entered the Boar & Thistle, freshly returned from a mysterious month abroad. Despite having just returned to Willowdale, he was inclined to adventure and interested in the contents of the Abbot’s Room as well, so he opted to join the two. They decided that it might be best to acquire some sort of proof of sincerity, in case the sister was wary of returning to the once-cursed church . To that end, they attempted to get a letter from the mayor, but were foiled by his morning nap; instead, they received a letter from the Reverend Mother. After rounding up all of the various paraphernalia of St. Christopher in their possession, the three used a combination of Sending, Scry and an arcane portal to quickly arrive in the village. They appeared at a street corner outside of a building called the Lotus Blossom. Having heard from Ru’s letter that Sister Tamoko was working in the town’s hospice, they asked the nearest passerby for directions. They received directions from a passing monk, despite his having taken a vow of silence, and found themselves in front of the combination museum and town offices. Going inside, they were met by Magister Peylon, who was all too happy to meet “travelers with eastern gold”. Enrique managed to get directions from the magister to the convent where Tamoko resides, in addition to an unbidden list of several good inns, eateries and shops. Meanwhile, Rinzler and Kat meandered upstairs to look at the museum, an interesting collection of local antiquities. Figuring that he had some time, Enrique visited the market district, where he purchased a striking jet black stone carving of a hunter from a barbarian woman. Finishing with their diversions, the three convened and went to the convent, where they were directed by a sister into an upstairs bedroom. Inside they found a very elderly woman, made deaf, blind and mute from her age, who was introduced to them as Sister Tamoko. Using Sending, Kat informed the old woman of their intentions; the woman appeared anxious, and gestured weakly for the attendant to pass her some charcoal. She sketched a simple drawing of St. Christopher’s sign: an arrow breaking off of a shield. Kat in turn passed her a signet ring with the same drawing; she felt the ring for a minute before gesturing to her armoire. Amongst her possessions, the Pathfinders discovered a very fine gold holy symbol of St. Christopher, which they tried to pass to Sister Tamoko. She pushed their hands back, gesturing that they should take it. They then passed her the Wand of St. Christopher, which she examined before praying fervently over it for a moment, causing it to grow closer to its full potential. After she returned it, the attendant asked them to leave, as the sister needed peace. Kat refused to leave until she was told by her companions that the holy symbol was likely all that was needed to open the secret room; this news heartened her, and she cheerily thanked the sister, despite the fact that she could not see or hear. The three left the convent and, with insistence from Kat, they teleported directly to the Church of St. Christopher. With no delay, Kat ran into the building, brandishing the holy symbol at the blank wall. As the symbol drew nearer, a glowing outline of a doorway appeared, slowly resolving into an actual doorframe as Kat approached. Trilling with excitement, she opened the door, revealing a quiet personal study. Various magical items were found throughout the room, all of a holy or beneficial nature, as well as an armoire of old clothes, the church’s poor box, and a small library of mainly clerical books. The group divided up the various abandoned objects of value, and decided to donate the contents of the poor box to the church in town and the library to the Adventurer’s Guild. The mystery of the Abbot’s Room was finally solved, but it was barely 3 in the afternoon, so the three decided to see if they could solve another mystery before the day was out. Heading into the Great Cedar Forest, they aimed to find the keystone of the ruined elven city in order to free Chickcharney from his endless guard duty. They began their search near the Doors to the North, as it was one of the biggest set of ruins they knew of in the forest; on their way, they found that an increasing amount of the forest appeared to suffer signs of burn damage. Investigating both the exterior and interior of the ancient vault turned up nothing, so they used the Legend Lore of Rhekmire to tell them of the city’s keystone, while using the Geomancer's Wand to point them in the right direction while he told them the story. As they walked, Rhekmire told them of an ancient city, of the forest that grew over its ruins and of the peoples who came later, who took stones from the ruins to build their own structures. He ended the tale with the direction the Pathfinders wanted: the city’s keystone was in a dry basement of the Sunken Fort, being used as a butchery table by the lizardfolk who lived there. Their destination clear, they quickly arrived outside the fort. Deciding that honesty might be the best policy, they announced their presence to the few individuals who could be seen on the fort’s ruined walls. Kat tried to bargain with them, saying that she only wanted a certain rock and would trade anything they wanted in exchange for it. The lizardfolk seemed nonplussed, and did not give any sort of reply. When Kat tried to get closer, they slowly backed away, slinking into the water. Deciding that they might be able to just walk in unopposed, the three flew over on Sparkle Pony and Cehen, and entered the top of the tallest, most sound-looking tower on the fort’s wall. When they opened the hatch, they heard the sounds of movement, but when they called inside, they heard the figures quickly flee the room. They walked down to find a sort of living room which was kept mostly dry by mud and other patchwork on the walls, now completely empty. Stairs led further down, where they found a larder, which contained amongst other things a large rock covered in blood and bits of butchered animals. Knowing that this must be the keystone they sought, Kat cast Dispel Magic upon it. It reacted immediately to the spell, causing it to glow and hum. At the same moment however, a tortured, enraged scream echoed across the forest: Chickcharney knew they were meddling, and was coming. The three raced to finish undoing the magic: they quickly deduced that three different spells needed to be undone, and that the Dispel Magic had interfered with the abjuration component. They guessed that there must be a conjuration component, and used Aqueous Orb to disable it; the resulting scream from Chickcharney was much closer, and they knew they didn’t have much time. While they tried to discern the final component, not to mention a spell they could use to disable it, they heard Chickcharney crash through the trees, entering the clearing around the lake. With a flash of insight, they decided the third component must be evocation, and used Lightning Bolt to destroy the final part of the keystone’s magic. The rock hummed and glowed angrily, and the three fled from the room, barely escaping in time for it to explode in a ray of blinding, pulsing arcane light. As they sat on Sparkle Pony and Cehen, they watched the power burn out, and saw as the black colour evaporated from Chickcharney, along with his enormous size and boundless rage. When the light flickered out, a normal owlbear was all that remained of the once terrifying Chickcharney. The owlbear blinked a few times, looked around and trundled off, unperturbed. Kat, needing to know that he was happy, ran after him. Using her way with animals, she gained his trust, scratched him behind his ears and spoke to him: he had no real recollection of being special or a guardian. He was just an owlbear, that’s all he ever was. Happy that he seemed content and at peace, Kat declared the mission a success, and the three returned to Willowdale for a late but well-deserved dinner. After she had returned home, Kat realized that she felt quite guilty for ruining the lizardfolk’s stone, not to mention the damage that the arcane beam might have caused, so she later purchased and delivered a herd of ten cows to the Sunken Fort as an apology for the intrusion. The Long Dark Road: Ches 6th-8th On the morning of Ches the 6th, everyone in the Boar & Thistle was greeted with a great surprise: Sir Roswell had arrived for a short visit. With much more to-do then he would have liked, Roswell was greeted and introduced to the many new faces that had arrived after he had returned to his estate in Highcombe. He was not the only visitor this day however: two men, one wearing full armour and a bucket helmet, the other possessing a somewhat sunsavoury demeanor, entered the tavern as well. They introduced themselves as professional barflies, who spend their lives searching for unique and interesting drinking establishments. In particular, they were interested in finding the location of a dwarven bar, and implored the Pathfinders to send directions should they ever happen upon such a place. With mention of the dwarves, the assembled group of Roswell, Jura, Ru, Rinzler and Kat began thinking about the as-of-yet unexplored Underdark. Calling Yeslick, they discussed what he knew about the dark tunnels, in conjunction with the locations of the entrances that they had already discovered. Deciding that it was finally time to take the dwarf paladin back to his kinsmen, the group prepared to set off to Gorgoroth's Bridge to brave the deep unknown. Using an arcane portal to teleport to the bridge, the group set off down the staircase at the base of the gorge. As they decended, the light was quickly lost behind them; miles beneath the ground they travelled, following the stairs as they eventually evened out to become a great bridge spanning endless chasms and caves. At the foot of the stairs, they discovered a dead drow, his brain skillfully removed by what they could only assume was a mind flayer. Deciding that a brisk walking pace was their best defense, they moved on. As they walked, they noticed that they were being followed. They could not dissuade their shadowy pursuers, and it was not long before a horde of morlocks attacked them. Though the individuals were easily repelled by the Pathfinders, wave after wave of the creatures assulted them, and nearly 40 of the morlocks died before they called off their assault. Quickly leaving the scene of carnage before it attracted anything else, they set out into the dark again. The straight road led on, passing through tunnels and over gorges, the heat oppressive under the earth. One small passage contained the remains of several humanoids, strung up in massive spiderwebs,found to be created by a male drider. Though it couldn't be communicated with, the group still managed to pass by without goading it into combat. The next thing they found on the underground highway was the corpse of a druegar in the process of being infested by an intelligence devourer. With swift action, the Pathfinders decapitated the corpse before the abberation could fully crawl into its skull, and chased it away off into the caves. A short while away, they discovered a small pond, filled with grey sightless fish. Mesmerized, Kat managed to catch one of the strange fish in a jar to take home with her. When the group returned to the road, they were stopped by a group of goblins wearing armour. They spoke in clean common, and asked the Pathfinders what they were doing in the Underdark, and why they were in the company of a dwarf. Roswell answered their questions with courtesy, and the guards informed them that they would be taking them to meet their king. They were led off of the highway to a great fort, and were taken directly inside to a large set of formidable double doors. Politely stripped of their visible weapons and spell components, the Pathfinders were taken inside to meet the Goblin King, a strapping specimen of goblinkind. The throne room itself was large, and possessed not only a fully-laden dining table fit for a dozen, but also had an extensive alchemy lab, a grand scrying pool and an arcane portal. The king introduced himself, and quickly proved to be a highly intelligent, canny ruler of a highly advanced people. He knew of the Pathfinders already: his people infiltrate the surface world, blending in with other goblin tribes to keep an eye on their safety and evolutionary progress, and so he knew of their deeds concerning the Firewalkers. Everyone was invited to eat, and so they did, the whole while Roswell conducting very polite, diplomatic conversation. Seemingly pleased with the Pathfinders, Yeslick was asked to wait outside so the king could discuss a sensitive issue, and so he left to the hallway, along with Jura who wished to keep him company. The king told them of the growing threat of war with the dwarves, who denied the goblins civility and wished for their land, and asked the Pathfinders to help advert war in any way possible. They agreed to assist in this matter, and the king offered to let them stay the night and, when they wished, use his portal to visit, provided that they kept it a secret from the world at large. With the serious matter delt with, he asked the Pathfinders to regale him with as much detail regarding the surface world as possible; Rinzler, with his almost obsessive notes, obliged, and the two sat discussing all manner of topics until they both collapsed from exhaustion. The others, meanwhile, entertained themselves at the goblins' drinking establishment, where it appeared that most of the patrons were amusing themselves with tests of intellect and study. The group stayed the night and moved on the next morning. With directions to the nearest dwarven outpost, the Undermountain Inn, the group travelled quickly and directly down the road until they reached the fort, located on the shores of a massive lake. They stopped only once, when they spotted a small individual picking mushrooms. When he noticed that he was discovered, he disappeared, but when Kat gathered up his spilled mushroom basket, the group managed to coax him back out of hiding. While at first he was suspicious of the Pathfinders, they eventually won him over, and he introduced himself as Atolla Lurloo Myhaw, the deep gnome. He gave them some vague advice about the area, including the location of a secret spot within the Fungal Forest, as well as a dwarven ring. With that, he stated that he must be off, as he was several days late for dinner and didn't want to make his family any more worried. The Pathfinders reached the Undermountain Inn, where Yeslick joyously reunited with his people. There was much drunken celebrating, and the Pathfinders spent the rest of the day and night there before using a portal to return to Willowdale. Foes in the Sawtooth Vale: Ches 10-14th On the 10th of Ches, Gorgoroth, Enrique, Alejandra, Ballantino, and Jura met in the Boar & Thistle to discuss a trip outside the wall. Trips to the Ashen Plains, the Cathedral of the Blackened Sun, and the Underdark were considered. Valconey mentioned that he would be able to use the hide of the Wolden Beast for magical purposes. In the end, however, it was decided to travel to the Sawtooth Vale in the hopes of allowing Gorgoroth to confront his father. The group teleported to Ashi-Gompa, but suffered a teleportation mishap and arrived several miles south of their goal, in the middle of the mountains. They spent a hard day passing through the mountains and camped for the night. Near dawn, Jura noticed an orcish hunter passing near the camp. She approached him in raven form a short distance from the camp. The hunter spotted her, but when she warned him with a glance that it was unwise to shoot, he made the sign of Gruumsh One-Eye and slipped away. On the 11th, the Pathfinders broke out of the mountains into the northern Vale. They soon stepped into a clearing containing a large orcish longhouse. An orc stepped out of the longhouse; Jura recognized him as the hunter she had encountered. He accused the Pathfinders of being sent by the orc king and told them to leave, but Gorgoroth insisted that they only wanted to talk and presented the Seal of the Metatron. The hunter reluctantly allowed entrance. Inside, the party and Gorgoroth in particular was welcomed by a circle of elders. The elders explained that they had come into conflict with the orc king due to the latter's refusal to follow the traditions of the orcs of the vale, and that they had been exiled as a result. They recounted that the orc king was not of their tribe and that he was supported by his warchief and an advisor. The advisor had once been one of the tribe, but was now different; from the description, the Pathfinders gathered that he was some form of undead. The warchief was an honoured warrior of their tribe who had obtained the title of Longtooth, though as he had abandoned the traditions the elders no longer supported him. When Gorgoroth described his quest to challenge his father to single combat, the elders agreed that he did indeed have that right. When questioned about the orcs' alchemist, the elders mentioned a human man being held prisoner in the lumber camp two days south of their longhouse, but could not say more. When Jura asked about druids, they mentioned that the "spirit walkers" had been angry of late and that their stone circle could be found across the river. The Pathfinders agreed to make a detour to the circle before continuing to the main orc camp. Jura warned her companions that Rinzler predicted that they would find enemy Shadow Druids at the circle. Sure enough, upon stepping within the circle the druids were immediately Entangled by the undergrowth. The Pathfinders weathered several offensive spells while picking off druids in animal shape from the branches, and engaged a single arctic ape within the circle. When a dire boar charged into the circle, Jura immediately recognized it as the shadow Arch-Druid, covered in magical enhancements. The Pathfinders brought their full might against the boar, which was finally taken down by a flurry of attacks from Jura in Megaraptor form. The dying Arch-Druid regained his natural form, a twisted humanoid shape writhing in pain. Enrique promptly shot him in the head; he died instantly, shriveling into a blackened husk. At this, one of the surviving shadow druids addressed Jura as the Huntmaster and claimed that the shadow druids would obey her, but not respect her. On questioning, the druid indicated that he had indeed come from Ravenswood, and that the shadow druids had abandoned the woods to the Elder Wizard. He claimed that it didn't matter, since the Hyperborean Queen would soon cover the world in winter. Jura told him that the shadow druids should keep to their circle, refrain from hurting travellers, and await further instructions. She examined a willow tree growing outside its natural range next to the circle and realized that it had been drawing life from the land in a manner similar to the crystal in the Alchemist's Tower, only the tree had fed the power directly to the shadow Arch-Druid. She and Alejandra quickly tore the tree down; it smoked and released a reddish ichor. The Pathfinders travelled downriver on the River Queen, and on the 12th reached the orc camp. They were met by a number of orcs on canoes. The orcs were suspicious of the Pathfinders, but on being shown the Seal of the Metatron and being threatened by Gorgoroth agreed to take the Pathfinders to the orc fortress further downriver, where the king and his warchief would be found. With the help of heavy intimitation on Gorgoroth's part, the party gained audience with the orc king. They found him not only with his warchief, but with his advisor, a half-orc lich. Gorgoroth demanded his right to combat. His father the warchief refused the challenge, and the king also protested on the grounds that he would lose his strategist. When the three were pressed, the lich announced that he would prepare something, and left. The Pathfinders attempted to question the king for details regarding the rules of engagement, but the king instead chastized them for killing the kobold king and told them to look for the First's spellbook in the Golden Fields. When the party approached the field of combat they observed the orcs gathered and the lich in the middle of the field. A brief conversation revealed that he was the Fifth, though he claimed not to care for the "power games" of the major disciples. He indicated that the first three servants of the Necromancer were the most active, and that he was a few centuries old. He said that the orc-ogre hybrids observed at the fortress were his handiwork. A roar was heard through the trees, and the Fifth tossed dispelling bombs, removing the Pathfinders' enhancements. At this the Pathfinders realized that the king had not relented to Gorgoroth's demands, but that instead some creature had been called here to fight them. A chimera emerged, with two goat heads and a full five dragon heads, one of each colour. Enrique heavily wounded it, but before it could turn on him, Alejandra grappled a head and Gorgoroth smashed another to pieces. The chimera turned to Alejandra, rendering her unconscious with a flurry of bites, and then to Jura, but was further wounded by the Thorn Body effects the two had activated. Gorgoroth dealt the fatal glow to the beast and roared at the assembled orcs, who were visibly shaken by the defeat of this powerful creature. A wall of firearms were nevertheless levelled at the party, and the king began to channel lightning through his sword. The party opted to run, though before leaving Gorgoroth removed his veil and levelled his gaze on the orc king. The gorgon gaze glanced off the king, but turned three nearby orcs to stone. As they retreated, the Pathfinders were caught in the king's fire spell. In the immediate aftermath of the fight, Ballantino used the Wand of St. Christopher to heal his dying wife, meeting the third condition for the wand's restoration. On the 13th and 14th, the Pathfinders travelled at top speed to the druid circle, and from there returned to Willowdale. On reaching the circle, Jura noticed that the shadow-druids appeared to be gone. She guessed that the man who had suggested she had command of the group had lied out of a desire to escape alive. However, since she suspected that the remmnants were little threat without their leader, she felt mostly relieved to have no further ties to the shadow-druids. The Elder Wizard's Cube and Sparkle Plane: Ches 15-29th On the 15th of Ches, Rinzler and Kat left Willowdale for Castle Kat; they were somewhat vague as to what their plans for the day were, but they did say that they would go recover the First's book, which had been mentioned to the Pathfinders by the Orc King. Halstein opted to come along so that he could "make sure that Kat hadn't dismissed the guards." Rinzler was hesitant at letting him come, but couldn't provide any particular excuse, so the three left for the estate. Once there, Kat had a platter of sandwiches made and took them down into the cellar along with the two other Pathfinders to meet her guest: the First himself, who entered through the arcane portal. The group had a relatively pleasant and highly informative conversation with the lich before he had to make his exit; the three agreed to not inform the others of this meeting. After the First left to attend to business, they set out to pick up the book. It took very little time to find, as when Kat offered to return it to him, the emissary claimed that he hadn't had possession of that particular book for some time and indeed had no use for it; they were welcome to keep it, and he even went so far as to magically pinpoint its exact location and inform them of its whereabouts. They made their way to a particular cottage in the Golden Fields that had been abandoned since the hobgoblin invasion. Inside, the single-room house was cold and dusty, but relatively untouched. Spotting a locked trapdoor leading to the cellar, the group approached it, but were suddenly stopped by a loud bang, as though something had slammed the basement door from underneath. Unable to detect any magical or undead presence, Rinzler stepped forward to pick the lock, only to watch it fall away from the door uselessly. Still undeterred, they opened the door, only to find an empty, ordinary root cellar at the bottom of a short ladder. However, in the corner, behind some barrels and bags of wheat, was a writing desk, upon which was a quill, a jar of ink, a single closed book and a freshly-lit candle, burning brightly in the dim basement. Rinzler approached the book while Halstein attempted to prop the door open with his battle-ladder; it was an old book, bound in what could only be skin. The pages, however, were completely blank. When a drop of ink was placed on the page, it was immediately and completely absorbed, leaving the page as fresh as before; the same happened when a sentence was written. In an attempt to spur some sort of reaction from the book, Rinzler pricked his finger and went to place it on the page. When his finger came close, it seemed as though the page itself jumped up to reach the blood, and the alchemist jerked his hand back as though it had cut him. The blood was absorbed, and with that, all of the ink and blood returned to the page, swirling and mixing around to form a picture of a heavily-patterned cube. The image became progressively clearer, until it looked almost three-dimensional, and then became three-dimensional in actuality. The three looked at the strange cube for a moment, when everything around them became black. When they realized their surroundings, they found themselves in a large, empty room with eight pillars and walls made of a black metallic stone. The center was dominated by a huge square pool swirling with a black liquid, and at the far end was an altar and a statue of a demonic, serpentine creature, unidentifiable by the knowledge of modern civilization. Almost immediately, they could tell that they were somewhere besides the Material Plane. Kat investigated the pool and saw that whatever its contents were, bodies and skeletons writhed through it, as though they were part of the fluid itself. Halstein noticed a set of stairs opposite the altar and found that they led to an alcove decorated with effigies of skeletons and beastmen like those seen in the art of the Empire of Decadence, though more sinister in design. Rinzler approached the altar itself, and the eyes of the statue followed his movements. On the altar itself were four candles which, despite his best efforts, would not stay lit. Eventually, the wax melted away and revealed four bright red leech-like creatures which had been slumbering inside the candles. Once freed, they wriggled to life and shot acid-like blood at Rinzler, who attempted to catch some in a bottle. He managed to grab two, but somehow saw four make their way off the podium and wriggle off into the darkness. Looking at the two in the jar, he watched them twist around each other and become one individual, which sat perfectly still and regarded him as intently as he it. The other two Pathfinders watched Rinzler become somewhat agitated, and when asked what was the matter, he only replied that he thought he might have gone insane. Unfazed by this statement, the group went to further investigate the alcove, which proved to contain a hidden door that led to a straight hallway barred by a bronze door. Opening it shot out a cloud of poisonous mist, and revealed a straight skyway, with windows revealing the larger room it passed through: a round area with four of the same black pools as seen earlier, but no door to speak of. The other end possessed a second bronze door trapped with poison gas, which was opened and suffered similarly to the first. More straight hallways were found behind, branching at 90° angles and leading to other bronze and stone doors. They wandered around for some time, finding nothing but more hallways; a small alcove they passed had carved into its wall a mural with six skeletal figures surrounding a full-plated individual with prismatic eyes: the Necromancer and his Disciples. As they walked, Rinzler continued to look distracted, and eventually spoke to the leech as though he was getting some sort of reply. This excited Kat, who then also began trying to talk to the leech, while Halstein shrugged off the whole thing. Eventually, they came upon a door made of platinum, bearing a picture of a knight in full plate whose eyes glowed with prism colours. Rinzler fecklessly touched the door, and immediately saw the Symbol of Death flash before his eyes. The powerful negative energy wracked his body and left him twitching on the ground, but did not manage to kill him; the door then broke into tens of small pieces and retreated into the walls. Halstein, dismayed that the platinum had vanished, gouged at the wall to try to access the precious metal. Every stab of his knife left a bloody gash in the metallic stone, and a groan could be heard from somewhere deep inside the building. He continued to hack at the wall, until suddenly tendrils whipped out from the doorframe and attempted to choke the barbarian. Managing to escape, the tentacles retreated, and Halstein asserted that he would best this building in combat, if that was what it wished. The room behind the door was small, and contained only a small hole in the ground that could only be seen down with Sparkle Pony's enhanced darkvision. They decided to not travel down it quite yet, as they hadn't yet explored every hall on this level, and so they continued to walk down more hallways. Eventually, they opened a door which caused a nearby door to close, and so they quickly hurried back to the hole, lest the deadly platinum door shut again. As each Pathfinder squeezed down the hole, they heard unsettling whispers and felt disturbing sensations in the confining darkness. Kat was terrified, and Halstein was shaken, shouting to no one that "you could not be the Thunderbird, you are a building!" The room at the bottom led to merely more hallways, but it was then they realized that some of these corridors connected to each other in ways that should not be physically possible. Looking at the blank book that had brought them here, they saw that it had begun constructing a map of the area they had explored, and indeed, some of the halls seemed somewhat strange. Carrying on, they saw movement around a corner; when Rinzler looked, he was covered in vomit spewed from a gigantic leech-like creature, whose back was writhing with centipedes. Halstein slashed at the creature, and when it lunged towards Rinzler, he finished it off with an explosion; immediately, the once-benign vomit turned to acid, severely wounding the alchemist. The creaure burned away, and the centipedes retreated into the darkness. Nearby, they found a fountain shaped like a dragon's head, spewing a dark and vile water. When they tried to bottle it, the unholy liquid melted the glass. Not wanting to leave without a sample of this powerful substance, Halstein and Rinzler combined their skills and managed to smelt a pile of coins into a crude metal jar over the span of an hour, which turned black when filled with the heinous fluid. As they prepared to leave, Rinzler paused, and the other two watched him absently open the jar with the leech and bring it towards his mouth. Halstein acted quickly and knocked the glass away, bringing Rinzler back to his senses; Kat caught the jar and resealed it. Looking at the now group of three leeches in the jar, she exclaimed happily that she was their friend as well. Though no one could really give a good reason to keep carrying around the insiduous creatures, they decided to wrap the jar up in some hide and bind it, rather then dispose of it. After travelling down some more halls, they looked at the map again, now a tangled mess of halls and corridors that defied logic. Taking out a pen, Rinzler attempted to make sense of the lines. As he worked, he became obviously more and more absorbed, quickly reaching the point where it was obviously harming his mind. Despite their attempts, Halstein and Kat could not stop his frantic scribbling, but right at the point where it looked he would snap, he completed the map and the cube manifested itself again, its sides adorned with the halls and rooms of the plane. Looking at it, they decided on a path to follow, and headed towards what looked like a promising room. They passed through several hidden doors, and a room that shot blades from every wall, though it was disarmed when Halstein claimed the golden skull in its center. They found themselves in front of another platinum door adorned with a cathedral and two towers; when it was prodded with a pole, the stick disintegrated. The door opened, and they were immediately before the prism-eyed image of the Necromancer. At the mere sight of this, Rinzler and Kat nearly died, and had to be quickly brought back from the brink. The illusion faded, and the door behind it opened, leading to a room that contained a miniature version of the Bone Ziggurat. At its peak stood a huge individual holding a tower shield and a mace; he was the Fourth, the high priest of the Blackened Sun, and would have liked to have punished the present Pathfinders for intruding, but would refrain from doing so out of respect for the First's wishes. He told them that they were now within his lord, inside the tiniest fragment of his being, and that if they should wish to leave, they could take the portal behind him to the Fane of the Necromancer. After some discussion, the three left, following the tunnel of light at the peak of the ziggurat. Immediately, they found themselves in some snowy ruins. Taking a few minutes to rest and get their bearings, they determined that they were most likely in the Wyrm's Teeth mountains. The jar of leeches was pulled out, and now there were so many leeches that they filled the bottle to threat of bursting, all of them pulsing like an infernal heart. Still, they decided not to kill them, and instead placed the jar inside the golden skull filled with snow, hoping that the chill would subdue the creature. They stowed the jar away, but before they had a chance to explore, a set of icy walls shot up, trapping them where they stood. A voice laughed out, announcing the arrival of the Third. He mocked disappointment at those who were assembled, as they weren't who he truly wished to destroy, but he claimed that he would have to make do. He hurled a fireball, nearly killing all three Pathfinders in one blow. Kat fled and activated a Candle of Invocation to create a gate to another plane, which she ran headlong into. Halstein grabbed Rinzler and ran as well, as the Third stood laughing at his own superiority instead of continuing his assult. As Halstein nearly reached the portal, he was shot in the back by an Arrow of Slaying, which he managed to shake off; a glance behind him revealed the archer to be the Second, watching silently. The other two Pathfinders entered the gate, and were whisked away. The three found themselves on a strange island floating in the sky, with a small mountain at its center, a rainbow waterfall flowing down its slope, and strange vegetation growing all around. A small cottage was at the mountains' base, and a statue of Kat stood near the door. To Kat's infinite wonder, they had been brought to Sparkle Pony's home plane. They were introduced to the dragon-like being Shining Scale, Sparkle Pony's housemate, who invited them to tea. Every Pathfinder there found their wounds healing at a highly accelerated rate, and found themselves relaxed and refreshed. They spent the day there to their own devices: Kat reveled in the wonders of the island, Rinzler attuned a summoning circle so they could return to the Material Plane and Halstein mined ore from the base of the mountain and fashioned a sled to carry it back in. At night, Kat slept blissfully with Sparkle Pony for the first time in her life while Halstein did some fishing in the rainbow river. The next morning, everyone gave Shining Scale gifts to thank him for his hospitality, and he gave everyone else a token in return. Before leaving, Halstein asked if Shining Scale knew the Thunderbird. In response, the dragonish creature pointed at the sky and gestured to concentrate. Squinting, everyone stared where he pointed, and were able to make out the face of a giant in the sky, who appeared to be holding the entire plane in his hand and was watching them. Kat waved happily, and Halstein lamented that the world of spirits was not for mortal man. With that, they said goodbye and used the summoning circle to return to Willowdale, satisfied with their long previous day. When they arrived, they found that their rooms had been emptied and people were exclaiming with surprise that they had returned. Apparently, while they had only spent a day abroad, two weeks had passed in the Material Plane. What with no word of their whereabouts, many were lead to suspect their demise. The three had to spend some time locating their things and assuring people that they had indeed not perished. The leech, now solitary, grey in colour and seeming to lack the intelligence and malice it had possessed in the Elder Wizard's Cube, was taken by Kat to live with her other pets.